Half-life: An excerpt from “Are You a Monster or a Rock Star: A Guide to Energy Drinks”

Half-life

The true meaning of the term “half-life” does not involve marriage, video games or unicorns.Half-Life, the video game, was released in 1998 as a science fiction first-person shooter game about a theoretical physicist in a post-apocalyptic world. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a half-life is a cursed life, punishment for drinking the blood of a unicorn. In chemistry, the half-life of a compound or molecule is how long it takes to reach the half-way point in the process of breaking down. Caffeine molecules are broken down and metabolized by the liver, and for some people it may take up to six hours to break down half the amount of caffeine ingested. Every person metabolizes caffeine differently because every person has different lifestyle factors that make their metabolism unique. Multiple servings of any caffeinated beverage in a short time span can be hazardous just because it takes the body so long to process the caffeine.

Knowing how long it takes you, personally, to metabolize caffeine will help you avoid caffeine toxicity. In other words, how long after the first sip of a caffeinated beverage do you feel alert? How long after that do you feel like the caffeine has worn off? The more you pay attention to your body and mind, and also to how your surroundings affect your level of fatigue, the easier it’ll be to answer these questions.

NEXT SECTION: Frequency

Knowing how long it takes your body to process caffeine will help you avoid overdosing, but the following four frequencies will also help you stay safe.